Falling From Grace (Leverage 3.5)

“Do they always do that?” he asked.

“Yes.” She glanced at him. “Freaked you out, huh?”

“Yeah. I think it would freak out most people to have total strangers pop out of the bushes and start snapping pictures at you.”

She sighed unhappily. “I wonder how they found me.”

“Did you tell anyone where you were going?”

“No,” she answered, troubled. “I have no idea how they find out these things. I think they have super human tracking skills.”

“Or someone tracked your cell phone.”

She frowned. “Can people do that?”

“Legally? No. But is it possible? Yes.”

Dani muttered an expletive. “Fan-freaking-tastic. That’s all I need. Those parasites tracking my every move.” She rose and went to the bedroom to get her phone where she’d left it and went to shut it off but noticed several missed calls from Raina. Against her better judgment she listened to her voicemail.

“Girl, I’m freaking out. You haven’t taken any of my calls and I’m starting to worry about my girl. This isn’t like you. I’m the irresponsible one, remember? Okay, I’m going to take a risk and guess that you’re holed up somewhere awesome with that bossy cutie that was at your pad the other day and not dead in a ditch somewhere, and if so, you gotta get your behind back to town because I’ve got someone you have to meet. As in pronto. Call me for deets.”

She clicked off and realized Miles was standing in the doorway. “Everything okay?”

“Um, yeah,” she answered, vacillating on whether or not to tell Miles about Raina’s message. She chewed her lip in indecision until she finally decided to come clean. “It was Raina. She wants me to call her back.”

“If I were you I’d lose her number. She’s no better than those parasite photographers.”

Dani scowled. “She’s my friend.”

“Some friend. Isn’t she the one who sent you home with that douche who tried to assault you? Yeah, with friends like that…you know the saying.”

“She had no idea that that guy was going to pull that. It could’ve happened to anyone.”

“No, it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t have happened to one of my friends because I wouldn’t send my drunk friend home with a strange man that I couldn’t vouch for.”

She hated that she knew he was right but her ego was struggling to let go. It sucked to realize your judgment was so skewed when it came to friends. In her heart, she wanted to believe that Raina probably didn’t mean to be self-centered and shallow but that was just her nature and probably couldn’t fight it. Raina had some good qualities, too. And she was lots of fun. “She knows the right people,” Dani insisted. “And she’s been a good friend during all the transition after Judgment. She’s a good person.” Good God, how had she managed to say that with a straight face? Raina was not in the running for Humanitarian Of The Year. She’d once watched Raina taunt a homeless person with the promise of a hundred dollar bill just to see how low she could make them go for the money. It’d ceased to be funny almost immediately and definitely once Dani had realized that Raina had no intention of giving the guy the money. In the end, Dani had returned to the street corner by herself and given the guy some money just to assuage her guilt. “Okay, so she’s not Mother Teresa,” she said, irritated. “But she knows the right people and I just need to talk to her real quick. It could be important.”

“Dani, this is what Lindy was talking about,” he persisted. “People like Raina are only going to drag you down. Cut her loose. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Raina who found out where you were holed up and sent those piranhas after you.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Dani said, although she’d often wondered if Raina were the weak link in her chain. She lifted her chin, determined to hold her shaky ground. “You’re wrong. You don’t know Raina like I do.”

“You’re right, I don’t know Raina, but I know plenty of people just like her. L.A. is filled with them — all looking for the next host — and honey, she’s latched real tight onto you. The fact that you can’t see her sucking you dry is sad.”

“I don’t tell you how to be a doctor,” Dani shot back, stung by his comment. “I can pick my friends and hang out with whom I choose. Don’t tell me how to run my life.”

“Yeah because you were doing such a bang-up job before this moment,” he returned caustically, causing her to blink back tears. “Have you forgotten how I found you? Stumbling around in a drunken stupor, possibly nearing alcohol poisoning while some creep you didn’t even know was trying to get into your pants? What would’ve happened if I hadn’t come along at precisely that moment? Have you thought of that?”

“Of course I have,” she answered mulishly, hating him for bringing it up. “What’s your point?”

“My point is your judgment is so out of whack right now you shouldn’t trust yourself to choose between white bread and wheat for your fucking sandwich.”

Oh, that was rude. He wasn’t pulling his punches and things could get exponentially worse if she didn’t pull the plug right now. “Why are we fighting about this?” she asked, wiping at her eyes. “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to fight with you about who I can talk to. You’re not my dad, my manager, or even my boyfriend. So butt out!”

A long, uncomfortable stand-off between them sucked the air out of the room and replaced it with angry tension until Miles threw his hands up in mock surrender and said, “You’re right. It’s your life. Fuck it up in grand fashion for all I care. I’m done.”

“Fine.” Miles, please don’t go. I’m sorry. You’re right. Don’t you see that I’m a mess and I need you? If her brain had been in charge, she would’ve said that instead of, “Have fun running your own life for a change” and maybe things would’ve calmed down. But…yeah, clearly her brain wasn’t in charge.

“Yep.” He grabbed a beach towel hanging on a chair and slammed out of the bungalow.

“Shit,” she muttered, sinking onto the bed, staring at her phone. Why did she pick a fight with Miles? He wasn’t saying anything that she didn’t already suspect and frankly, if she were going to follow Lindy’s advice, it would definitely mean cutting Raina from her life for a while. Losing Raina didn’t fill her heart with dread but the idea of losing Miles again certainly did. Way to go, Einstein. Well, since she’d already screwed the pooch she might as well see what Raina was so fired up about.

“There you are!” Raina exclaimed, the raucous sounds of a club making it almost impossible to hear. “Where the fuck are you? Did you fall off the map? Wait, hold on, Imma go outside. It’s loud as fuck in here.” A few seconds later, the noise subsided and Raina, said, “Ah, that’s better. Now, where are you? I was totally worried and then I was jealous because I just know you’re getting some of that hottie doctor action. Am I right?”

Dani ignored Raina’s nosy question and said, “I’m fine. I’m just calling to let you know that I’m good so you don’t have to worry.” Like Raina was truly worried. Ha! The only thing that managed to get past Raina’s Botoxed face was the threat of running out of parties to frequent. “What’s up?”

“Girl, the scene is not the same without you. Reynolds is all up in my grill asking about you every night. I’m like, dude, I’m not her freaking pimp. Chill! But you know, he’s got a thing for you so he keeps bugging me. As if I know your every move, right?” Reynolds. Ugh. A sudden queasiness crept into her gut and she realized with a small laugh that this was fucking ridiculous. “But seriously, where are you? Did you go to the freaking moon or something?”

“Uh, no, just somewhere that Miles thought would be good to relax. I’m really great, though.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, when you coming home? Oh, fair warning…I had a tiny get together at your pad. It got a little crazy — I’m totally never inviting Dezi over to anything ever again. He totally threw up in your bathtub. Gross, huh? Oh, and that beezy Jilly totally fucked in your bed. I mean, how rude, right? I would say never invite her

over again but her daddy has money for days and she’s always good for blow if you’re on the scene without any.”

Raina speaking so casually of cocaine, raunchy sex in her bed, and thinking nothing of the fact that Raina had no right to invite people over to Dani’s house when she wasn’t there made everything suddenly so clear it was like watching her life through sheets of clear glass. “Raina, why did you throw a party in my house when I wasn’t home?”

“Because a girl’s gotta get her freak on, right?” Raina said, laughing and totally missing the point. “Besides, I’m not the one who bailed. If you were here, you totally could’ve got some serious action. Let me just say — it was epic.” She giggled, adding, “Fourways are the new threeways.” And Dani suffered a pang of nausea realizing that Raina had had sex with who knows how many people in her house…probably in her bed, too. She rubbed at the sudden sharp pain between her brows as Raina continued to ramble about her escapades. “And then I said, bitch, who do you think you are? You get my sloppy seconds, not the other way around.”